


Cold feet

by Hustlehustle



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Boggarts, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:02:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23398177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hustlehustle/pseuds/Hustlehustle
Summary: Draco had a lot of fears, more and more it seemed, as the Dark Lord's power grew ever stronger. Still, there was only room for one fear in that damn cursed closet that held professor Lupin very own boggart, and altough he tried to deny it, Draco knew exactly which fear it would hold.
Kudos: 49





	Cold feet

“Come on now, you’re up next, Malfoy,”

professor Lupin said. Pansy gave his back a little shove as Draco felt his feet move unwillingly towards the closet. The closet that would surely humiliate him in front of all his classmates by showing them his wort fear. A weakness.

  
He grits his teeth and glared at the closet, willing it to crumble to dust. He wondered what it was going to be he had many fears after all. Sometimes, it felt as if all he had was fears. The Dark Lord, his father, either dead or alive, his mother, her disappointment., her in danger. And of course, the most glaringly obvious one, the one that was just also there, like a shadow hanging over his thoughts. Of course, how could he ever have fooled himself that the boggart could’ve turned into anyone- anything- else.

  
The muscular, scraggly, beast of a man stood in front of him. The boggart not deciding if he was scariest to Draco as a man or a beast, kept him in this half- changed form. Canines pointy and bones under the muscle twisting to something unnatural and mangled-looking, it seemed as if bones where pointing in places they shouldn’t, and skin stretched strangled to accommodate their wired, unnatural placement- But his face, his eyes, the look he was giving Draco. That was undeniably human, yet monstrous all the same.  
Even in the shocked, near paralyzed state of absolute horror he found himself in, Draco noted the way his professor stiffened.

“Pup, Goldie, come here.” The creature drawled out, in a rude imitation of sweetness.

  
The wand was completely forgotten, even if something in his mind was screaming at him to just get it and cast the damn spell- cast any spell- he couldn’t sense it anywhere. He couldn’t quite feel anything in the room or of himself anymore, his gaze locked whit the wolf’s. He remembered these eyes, staring into his, forcing them open. The smile that held those teeth bloodied and mouth warm and-  
Suddenly those teeth were almost upon him, the beat having leapt at him somewhere in the background of his racing mind.  
Professor Lupin showed himself in front of Draco, pointing his wand at the creature- only a boggart, he remembered somehow- that turned from a wolf to a moon, before yelling in a voice that sounded broken and stringy, “ridikkulous.”

  
And then the moon deflated.

  
Draco then noticed he had landed on his bum and was now sitting on the floor. How embarrassing, a voice in his head that he wasn’t convinced was his own said. It sounded much to alike to his fathers to be his. There were murmurs behind him, and when the professor turned around from the boggart Draco thought he would look a them, but those eyes, pupils small and brows wide, looked down on him. He locked gaze with the professor for a moment longer than was comfortable. The professor was bewildered, and no doubt searching for an explanation that some simple retinas couldn’t give. Then footsteps reached him, and pansy’s hand grabbed his and he was pulled up to his still shaking feet.

  
His gaze sept up to his classmates, Gryffindor’s and Slytherins in this class, and he searched for the ones he knew. Most people looked confused, but by the way Theodore Nott’s knuckled had gone white, he knew the fellow with whom he shared a bit too much firsthand field death eater experience must have picked up on some of Greyback’s threats. Draco only hoped he didn’t know the wolf well enough to know what exactly that entailed. He dared a glance at the golden trio, the bushy haired mudblood looking at Lupus like he was a difficulty rune, the Weasley was saying something to Harry, who was in turn staring at Hermoinie.

  
He grabbed Pansy’s hand a little too tight and nearly dragged her back to their desk. Professor Loping continued behind them.  
“That- That’s, we’ll take the rest of your boggarts next class.” He was shaky, his words seemed unsteady and breathy in the classrooms dusty air.  
“I want you to start on your homework assignment, the history of the ridikkulous spell- “Draco zoned out, his body feeling all too cold and too hot at the same time. Something was grinding at his brain, Greenbacks class where stuck somewhere n there, trying to claw Draco back into a darkness that one he entered, he wouldn’t get out of. He pushed his nails into the palms of his hands harshly, pulling his mind back into his body, away from memories and fears and bloody werewolves. He didn’t even try reading for the rest of the class, the last thing he could do right now was think, because thinking with this much fear running through him would send his mind down a path of paranoia, and that felt like the icing on a particular dreadful cake.

  
Lucky for him, Pansy was never much of the studying type, and started whispering to him. “I found the gold-leaf my mother used on my new wardrobe so pretty. I’d like to put it on a broom, then I’d be traveling in style. «She grinned at him, and he found himself grinning back at her antics. He was lucky to have Pansy right then, he admitted. He could always count on her to shove any glaring problem under the rug and provide a good distraction. He was more than happy to talk about absolute nonsense with her for the remainder of class. It was enough to brush off the shakiness and bring some light to his mind, at least until class was over and Lupin put a hand on his shoulder and asked him to stay for a chat. The hand felt much too heavy and calloused, and it felt like it was burning him through his robes. Draco exchanged a look with Pansy as she flashed him a small smile. He didn’t meet Theo’s eyes, with effort, as he seemed intent on staring into Draco’s very soul.


End file.
